At this moment, Charlie’s family gathered in the living room, enjoying a festive New Year’s Eve dinner while watching the Spring Festival G. They were having a delightful time together.


    It was quite unusual for Jacob and ine, an elderly couple who usually didn’t get along, to actually tolerate each other without their usual bickering.


    Jacob shared a ss of white wine with Charlie, which seemed to brighten his mood.


    ire had intended to enjoy some red wine with ine, but ine swiftly snatched the bottle from her hands, pouring herself a generous ss. With a serious tone, she admonished ire, “ire, women preparing for pregnancy shouldn’t drink alcohol; it’s not good for the child!”<fn83b3> ???? ????s? ???????s ?? f?ndnovel</fn83b3>


    After that, she turned to Charlie with a smile and said, “Good son-inw, you should also drink less. Too much wine can affect the quality of a man’s tadpoles! Ultimately, this impacts the quality of the child!”<h3 style="background-color:DodgerBlue">


    ire felt a wave of embarrassment wash over her, and she responded with a mix of shyness and irritation, “Mom… Why do you keep bringing up such awkward topics?”


    ine replied earnestly, “I’m just trying to share some health advice, all based on what childcare and gics experts say on TV!”


    ire sighed, “But you don’t have to say it so bluntly! Can’t you be a little more tactful?”


    Feeling slightly wronged, ine countered, “I thought using ‘tadpoles’ was a subtle way to put it! Isn’t that tactful enough?”


    She continued, “My daughter is among the best in the whole country! She’s inherited my exceptional genes!”


    ine retorted, “You need to have some self-respect too! ire, did you really inherit any good genes? The only reason you’re so beautiful is my natural beauty!”


    Jacob couldn’t hold back and eximed, “That’s ridiculous! With those genes of yours, no one would even pick you up if you threw yourself down the drain!”


    ine mmed her chopsticks down in frustration, shouting, “What are you talking about, Jacob? I’m not in the mood to argue with you on New Year’s Eve, so don’t get too cocky!”


    Jacob, feeling a bit intimidated, quickly said, “Oh dear, I’m just trying to share some wisdom with my son-inw. This is a man-to-man topic, so don’t interfere.”


    He then patted Charlie on the shoulder and advised, “Charlie, listen to Dad. Don’t overthink things, don’t prepare too much—just drink some wine and enjoy yourself, and everything will take care of itself!”


    Hearing this made ire’s face flush with embarrassment. She immediately set her chopsticks down and said, “If you keep discussing such inappropriate topics, I’ll just go back to my room to watch TV.”


    “Oh no, please don’t!” Jacob pleaded, waving his hands. “Can’t Dad just stop chatting? This is the first New Year’s Eve the four of us are spending together alone in this lovely big vi, without having to squeeze in with your grandmother. We need to make this evening memorable!”


    Surprisingly, ine, who rarely agreed with Jacob, chimed in cheerfully, “Yes! We’re going to celebrate the New Year until midnight this year!”


    ire replied, “Celebrating is fine, but can we please avoid the nonsense…”


    “Alright, alright!” ineughed. “I know you’re sensitive, so I’ll try to keep it light.”


    Jacob quickly changed the subject, raising his ss to Charlie, “Come on, good son-inw, let’s drink!”


    Charlie nodded and clinked his wine ss against Jacob’s.


    Just as they finished their drink, Charlie’s phone buzzed with two WeChat notifications.


    To his surprise, the messages were from Nanako Ito, who was far away in Japan.


    First, she sent a photo of her snow-covered courtyard in Kyoto.


    Then, she followed up with a message: “Charlie, today is the traditional New Year’s Eve in your country, and I want to wish you a happy new year! I also wanted to share some good news: it’s snowing again in Kyoto tonight…”<h3 ss="has-text-align-center" id="chapter-list"><strong></strong>